Bus Service to Come to Riders’ Homes

Ventura will have a new kind of bus service come March that combines a regular route with door-to-door service.

A minibus will drive a route through midtown Ventura and into the Pierpont neighborhood until it reaches the Ventura Harbor, but will veer off course to pick up and drop off nearby passengers at home.

Riders should call at least 10 minutes prior to the bus’ arrival at the nearest stop.

Although some cities in the east county, such as Thousand Oaks, use similar routing systems, in the west county the service was only available for seniors until now.

South Coast Area Transit will begin implementing the “deviated fixed-route service” when an overdue shipment of two eight-passenger minibuses arrives.

“This kind of bus has become popular in transit areas where there is low ridership,” said Laura Caskey, director of planning and marketing for SCAT.

“We are trying to increase ridership by providing more specific service.”

A standard adult bus fare costs $1.

If the bus leaves its course for a rider, it costs an additional 25 cents each way.

For more information about any SCAT bus, call 483-3959.